Good evening. Let's open tonight's
service with hymn number 42 from your hardback hymnal, number
42. Let's all stand together. 42. the power of Jesus' name, let
angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem,
and crown him Lord of all. Bring forth the royal diadem,
and crown him Lord of all. He chosen seed of Israel's race,
he ransomed from the flood. Hail Him who saves you by His
grace, and crown Him Lord of all. Hail Him who saves you by
His grace. Every kindred, every tribe on
this terrestrial floor. To Him all majesty astride, and
crown Him Lord of all. To Him all majesty astride, and
crown Him Lord of all. ? Old hat with yonder sacred throng
? ? We at his feet may fall ? ? We'll join the everlasting song ? ?
And crown him Lord of all ? ? We'll join the everlasting song ? Please be seated. Good evening. Let's open our
Bibles to Acts chapter one. Acts chapter one. And we'll begin reading that
verse. Our text tonight for the message will be the last verse
of 1 Peter chapter 3, which speaks of the Lord ascending back into
glory and having all angels and authorities and powers placed
under him. And so here in Acts chapter 1,
we have the account of the ascension of our Lord. And we'll begin
reading in verse six. And when they therefore were
come together, they ask of him saying, Lord, wilt thou at this
time restore again the kingdom of Israel? The Holy Spirit had
not been given in power and they were still confused about the
nature of the kingdom of God. thinking that it was going to
be a restoration of national Israel and a reestablishment
of the throne of David on the earth. Our Lord, I love what he said
to Pilate when he said, my kingdom's not of this world. If my kingdom
was of this world, my disciples would fight. And he said unto them, It is
not for you to know the times or the seasons which the father
hath put in his own power, but you shall receive power after
the Holy Ghost has come upon you. And in the margin of my
Bible, it says you shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming
upon you. So I like that reading. You shall
receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you. rather
than you shall receive power as if it was some sort of, you
know, thing separate from the Holy Spirit. You shall receive
the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you. And you shall be witnesses
unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and
unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken
these things while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud
received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly
toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men, these were angels,
obviously, two men stood by them in white
apparel, which also said, ye men of Galilee, Why stand you
gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken
up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you
have seen him go into heaven. I want us to pray. for the service
and pray for some of our brethren. Jeanette Briggs has a compromised
immune system and she got bit by a tick this week and ended
up in the hospital with an infection from that. They put her on a
bunch of different antibiotics yesterday and she's doing better
today. I told her to let me know when
she went home, but she's, She was doing better today. Also,
Jack Bond's daughter, Summer, also has some very serious physical
problems. And I want us to pray for Summer
tonight. And of course, we always remember
to pray for Bert. and Jennifer's having some weaknesses, I guess you
could say, right now, after all the wedding and everything else.
All right, let's pray together. Our
Heavenly Father, we thank you for The revelation of Christ that
you've given us in your word. We thank you for how he came
down from heaven. How he was faithful to go up
to the cross. How he went down into the grave
and then back into heaven. Lord, how we. We look for that
day when. And he will return. in all of His glory. Lord, we
pray that you would send your Holy Spirit now in power, as
you promised, and that you would enlighten the eyes of our understanding,
that you would give to us faith, that you would forgive us of
our sin, enable us, Lord, to worship in the power of your Holy Spirit
and according to the truth revealed in your word. Lord, we thank
you for knitting our hearts to Christ and to one another. We
thank you for the fellowship of the saints and for the privilege
that you give us to bear one another's burdens. Lord, we thank
you for the medical care that Jeanette has received this week
and ask that you hand of healing would continue to give her full
recovery. Pray for Summer, for Bert, for
Jennifer. Lord, comfort them as only you
can and provide for them the hope and strength and peace,
grace and mercy that you give to your children by your spirit.
Help us, Lord, to be reminded to to help one another and care
for one another and pray for one another. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Number 127 in the
hardback temple, 127. Let's stand together again. For the Son of God, who came,
ruined sinners to reclaim, hallelujah, of the Savior. sharing shame
and scoffing, who in my place condemned, he stood, sealed my
pardon with his blood. Hallelujah! What a Savior! ? Guilty, vile, and helpless we
? ? Spotless Lamb of God was He ? ? Full of torment, had it
be ? ? Alleluia, Lord, the Savior. ? Lifted up was He to die, His
is finished was His cry. Now in heaven exalted high, Hallelujah,
what a Savior! ? He comes, our glorious King ?
All his ransomed home to bring ? Then anew this song we'll sing
? Hallelujah, what a Savior Please be seated. As I've already mentioned, we'll
be looking at the last verse of 1 Peter chapter 3. But by
way of introduction, I want us to open our Bibles to Isaiah
chapter 55. Isaiah chapter 55. The thoughts that we naturally
have about ourselves and about God don't just need to be adjusted
or tweaked, they need to be completely reversed. There is a way that
seems right unto a man, but that way leads to death. We We're so separated from God in
our natural birth, we come into this world, all the thoughts
that we have of God are just the opposite of what they would
need to be and what the truth is. And the Lord has to give
us a new heart and a new mind to think his thoughts and to
know who he is and who we are and how it is that he's pleased
to save sinners. And so we're always coming to
the Lord with repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord
Jesus Christ, always in need. Lord, change my thoughts. If
I've got a wrong thought about you or about myself, it's natural
that I would. I need a miracle. I need a work of grace. I need
for you to give me the mind of Christ. And he does that. He does that by his word. We
hear what God says and we respond by saying amen, amen. Whatever
God says, that's the way it is. It doesn't matter what I think
about it. And so in Isaiah chapter 55 at verse 8, the Lord says,
for my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways
my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my
thoughts than your thoughts. And here's the hope. For as the
rain cometh down and the snow from heaven and returneth not
thither, but water the earth and make it that bring forth
bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall my word be that goeth
forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper
in the things whereunto I send it. So the Lord's likening his
word and I'm reminded that his written word And the living word,
we don't separate them. They're one and the same. So
when we speak of the word of God coming down, we're thinking
about God's written word coming down as rain. watering the soil
and giving seed to the sower. I hope that I'll be a faithful
sower tonight, sowing God's word and giving bread to the eater.
I pray the Lord will use his word to enable us to feed on
the bread of life, the Lord Jesus Christ, the manna that came down
from heaven. And so here's our hope when the word of God is
given from God and returns back to God, it accomplishes the purpose
for which he sent it. And it'll accomplish his purpose
tonight in our hearts. And he accomplished his purpose. When the living word ascended
back into glory, he took with him the names of those for whom
he lived and died. He did not return void. He accomplished
the purpose for which God had sent him. And that's always our
hope. Turn with me now to our text
in 1 Peter chapter three. Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ
in verse 22, who is gone into heaven and is on the right hand
of God angels and authorities and powers
being made subject unto him. The Lord Jesus knew that when
he came down from heaven in his incarnation, that he would return
back to glory and take his rightful place at the right hand of God. and that he would make a short
work of righteousness here on the earth through the means of
the cross. And that God would, if we could
say, reward him for his faithfulness by putting all powers and all
authorities and all angels under his feet. I've titled this message, The
Way Up is Down, and I was thinking about the laws of nature. We
say what goes up must come down, and that's so true, but only
as it applies to that law of nature that we call gravity that cannot
be defied. It's a set law upon the earth
that God has made. But as is often the case, the
physical laws and spiritual laws are just the opposite. Because
here, what we see in the Lord Jesus Christ is what comes down
must go up. The Lord Jesus came down from
heaven. And then he went up onto the
cross. And then he went down into the
grave. And then he went up into heaven. And his people are waiting now
for him to come down once again and to gather his church and
to ascend back again. See, what comes down must go
up. When he comes down the next time,
he will go up and be exalted, never to come down again, never
to come down. He'll be eternally lifted up
in glory, and we will have our hearts and eyes fixed on him
for all eternity, exalted, given a name that is above every name.
So what comes down, spiritually speaking, must go up. It must go up. And these things are just the
opposite of the physical laws. We think about life, physically
speaking, being dependent upon light. Without light, there's
no life. You put a seed in the dark, it's
not going to You know, it can't grow, but the plant will die
if it doesn't have light. But in the spiritual world, the
scripture says that he is the life and the life is the light
of men. And so life comes before light
in Christ. In the physical world, Seeing
is believing. But in the spiritual world, believing
is seeing. You know, it's just the opposite.
You have to be blind before you can see. If you were blind, then
your sins would be forgiven you, is what the Lord told the Pharisees.
But because you say you can see, therefore your sins remain. In the physical world, life gives
way to death. but in the spiritual world, death
gives way to life. So my ways are not your ways.
Yes, in this world, what goes up must come down, but in the
heavenly realm, what comes down must go up. And if God leaves
us to ourselves, we will draw conclusions about ourselves and
about God and about salvation that are not just wrong, but
completely contrary to the truth. And we will fashion for ourselves
idols that look like us. You thought that I was altogether
such a one as yourself. That was your sinful, perverted,
darkened imagination that came to that conclusion. And we read
in Psalm 115 about how we how we fashion a God who has hands,
but he can't do anything with them. He's got eyes, but he can't
see. He's got ears, but he can't hear. And they that make them
are like unto them. So that's what the natural man
does. We make a God that looks like us. The Holy Spirit must come down
if we are to go up. We must be brought down if we're
to go up. You see, the way down is up.
The way up, I'm sorry, is down. And what comes down must go up. So the Lord brings things down
before he raises things up. The gospel turns everything upside
down. We spent a couple of months looking
through the book of Thessalonians, and we remember in Acts chapter
17 when Paul went to Thessalonica, a riot broke out and the accusation
that they made against the Apostle Paul is these men are turning
the world upside down. And what they didn't know was
the world was upside down and they were turning it right side
up. That's what the gospel does. And we're upside down. And only
the gospel can turn us right side up. Only the gospel of God's
grace and Only Christ and only the power of the Holy Spirit
and only the revelation made of himself and his word can put
things right. Otherwise we'll think, we'll
think up is down and down is up. He's gone into the heavens. Look,
verse 22. Where's Christ? The Father said,
sit thou here at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy
footstool. He's gone into the heavens. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Verse 22. For as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive. We died spiritually in
our father, Adam. He's not just our federal head,
he's our seminal head. We died in him. We are his seed. We come into this world with
the nature of our father, Adam, spiritually dead and separated
from God. And in Christ, only in Christ,
can any of the sons of Adam be made alive. But every man, verse 23, in his
own order, Christ, the first fruits, and afterwards they that
are Christ at his coming. So who's Christ gonna make? You
see, he's talking about the resurrection. He's talking about that which
went down into the tomb must come up. The father could not
allow his holy one to see corruption. He was offered up for our offenses
and raised again because of our justification. He had to go,
he had to die and go down before he could come up. And his resurrection
is the hope of our resurrection. If there be no resurrection,
we're of all men most miserable. We've been duped. We've been
deceived if there's no resurrection. It's the resurrection of Christ
that gives us the hope of our eternal life. And we have to
continue to be reminded of these things and be hopeful in these
things. I was talking to Bert yesterday
and Bert has a good hope, but he said, you know, I got to be
reminded now more than ever before. Tell me what the scripture says.
Because I have doubts, I have fears. We all do. And yet the Lord uses his word
to fix our affections again on Christ and give us hope. And
here's what the Lord's saying. We have a good hope in that Christ
was raised from the dead. He that went down into the grave
came forth out of the grave and he's the firstborn. Speaking
of his resurrection among many brethren, the first fruit afterwards,
they which are Christ at his coming then come at the end when
he shall have delivered up the kingdom of God even the father,
when he shall I put down all rule and all authority and all
power." Now this is the same rule, authority and power that
Peter's speaking of. It's under his feet right now.
One day he's going to put it down. What he's talking about
is putting it down, separating it, putting it down into hell,
destroying it once and for all. For he must reign until he hath
put all enemies under his feet. And the last enemy that shall
be destroyed is death. Here's our hope. The Lord Jesus
Christ conquered death. He went into the grave in order
to open the tomb, open the windows of heaven. For he hath put all
things, he, now speaking of the father, in verse 27, for he,
the father, hath put all things under his feet, under Christ's
feet, but when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest
that he is exempted, which put all things under him. So that
personal pronoun there is referencing to the father. The father put
everything under the son, but the father's not under the son. And when all things shall be
subdued unto him, then shall the son also himself be subject
unto him that put all things under him that God may be all
in all. I don't know what all that means,
but I know we're gonna see God in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ and the father is gonna get all the glory. Christ is
gonna be lifted up. And every knee will bow and every
tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father, to the glory of God. Go back with me to our text.
He's gone into heaven and is at, right now, the right hand
of God. and all that he lived and died
for are in him right now. All the blessings of God, the
scripture says, are in Christ in the heavenly places right
now. We set our affections on things above, not on things of
the earth. Christ is often referred to in
the scriptures as God's right hand. You know, we use that term
when we speak of someone that we that we depend on closely. We say that's my that's that's
my right hand. And that's where this comes from.
The Lord Jesus Christ, the father refers to as his right hand. And the right hand is a picture
of work, a good work. The Lord Jesus Christ accomplished
the work. The right hand is a picture of
blessings when the Lord separates the sheep from the goats. He
puts his people on his right side and the reprobate on his
left side. And there's no doubt in my mind,
though the scriptures don't say, which one of the thieves on the
cross was the believer, you know it was the one on the Lord's
right hand that he saved. We can draw that
conclusion from everything else that we know in the scriptures.
So here's God's right hand of mercy, his right hand of accomplishment,
his right hand of grace. And he's seated right now. He's
finished the work. I think I've said this recently,
it's amazing how You know, you read about the tabernacle in
the Old Testament and there's not a single chair in that tabernacle
anywhere. There's the mercy seat, it's
called a seat, the throne, the golden mercy seat overshadowed
by the wings of the cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant in
the holies of holies where the blood was put. God said, here
I will meet with you. But other than that, there's
no refer, why? Because the work was constant. Those priests didn't sit down.
They didn't have time to rest. When they got tired, they just
changed shifts. Another one come in, they keep
slaughtering animals and cleaning up and making sacrifices and
burning incense and all those things. And then when we look at that
tabernacle in heaven, The one piece of furniture that is most
conspicuous is the throne. The Lord Jesus is seated. He's
seated, why? Because his work's finished.
When he bowed his head on Calvary's cross, he said, it is finished,
it's finished. There's nothing more to be done.
He's seated now, having finished the work of redemption. I notice in the last part of
verse 22, angels and authorities and powers being made subject
unto him. Now we just read that they're
going to be put down one day. They haven't been put down yet,
but though they haven't been put down, they are subject to
him. Now when we think of angels,
we think of elect angels. Ministering spirits, Hebrews
chapter one, verse 14. I don't know how that works,
but I know it does. I know that God has angels in
this world ministering to the needs of his people. I know that
he does for us what he did, what those angels did in the Old Testament
when they went to battle against the enemies of God and they,
and they, and they thwarted the purposes of the evil ones against
the people of God. I'm sure those angels are doing
that same thing right now. It's ministering spirits, the
scripture calls them. Just as they ministered to the
Lord Jesus in the wilderness after fasting 40 days and 40
nights. They minister, they minister
to us. They fight our battles, brought food to prophets. They
ushered saints into glory. Every time one of God's saints
closes their eyes in death, he sends angels to gather them up
and bring them into his presence. These angels are subject to him.
They do his bidding. Whatever he tells them to do,
they do it. You know, every angel in heaven
was standing at the precipice of glory with swords drawn ready
when the Lord was hanging on Calvary's cross, waiting for
him to command them to come. They would have destroyed this
whole world and delivered their Lord. These angels are ministering
spirits to God. They're ministering spirits to
his people. They minister in love and in devotion and willingly. They were the ones that came
and rolled the stone away. They're the ones we just read
about in Acts chapter one, who spoke to the disciples on the
Mount of Olives as the Lord ascended back into glory. Men of Nazareth,
why stand you here gazing into heaven? Those were angels. They're
all subject to him. We see them in Isaiah chapter
six, hovering over the throne of God, crying, holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth is filled with
his glory. Oh, what glorious cherubim, angels. They are all subject to him.
And I guess I should make a warning to not Go beyond what scripture
tells us about these angelic beings. Don't be looking for
them in experience and don't be trying to figure things out.
Just we know what the scripture says about them and that's all
we know. That's all we need to know. You don't need to delve
into things that are secret. The secret things belong to the
Lord our God. Those things have been revealed
belong to us and to our children. Plenty of people have delved
into angels and come up with things of their own imagination
that would just be wrong for us to do. They're the ones that are going
to blow the trumpet at the next time the Lord comes down. And they're going to harvest
the wheat from the four corners of the earth. Bring them all
into heaven. Separate the wheat from the tares. They are subject unto him. But
not only are the elect angels subject unto him, but the fallen
angels are subject unto him. Jude verse six says, which kept
not their first estate. Lucifer and one third of the
band of angels in heaven who were not elect, they were subject
to sin and they did. They were subject to a fall and
they fell. And so they were cast out of
heaven and brought to this earth. And Satan is called the prince
of the power of the air. They do his bidding too. The
fallen angels are just as subject to the Lord Jesus Christ, who's
seated at the right hand of God, as are the elect angels. Don't
forget that child of God, because these fallen angels are the ones
that oftentimes, just like they did for Job, they bring trouble.
They bring temptations. They're called the accuser of
the brethren. They make things hard. But they're God's devils and
they're God's angels. You remember when the Lord Jesus
went over to the Gadarenes and there was a man there that was
possessed with a legion of demons. And the demons, when they saw
the Lord Jesus Christ said, Jesus, thou son of God, hast thou come
to torment us before the appointed time? They're God's angels. They do his bidding at his time
and in his way. They're subject unto him. They're
on a leash. They can only do what God allows
them to do, what he permits them to do. And the Lord uses them to drive
his children back to him. You know, a child gets afraid
and what do they do? They run home. They run home
or they run to the first place of safety and they bury their
face in the neck of their father or they hide behind the mother's
skirt. And that's the threat of fear
chase them, force them back to that place of safety. And so the Lord uses these evil
spirits in this world to cause us to see our need to run home,
run home, find our refuge in Christ. These fallen angels, which are
all subject to the Lord, will one day be bound in chains and
cast into a lake of fire. Soon. Satan was defeated at the cross
and that he was judged at the cross. And the gates of hell were opened
and those who were held captive by him were delivered in justification
and in righteousness before God and in time they shall be delivered
in the new birth and in regeneration. All these angels are subject
to him. The elect angels and All power
has been given unto me. Know what the Lord told the disciples
in Matthew chapter 18, just before he ascended back into glory?
We don't have this recorded in the verse that we read in Acts
1, but the ascension is also mentioned in Matthew chapter
18. And the Lord, just before he ascended into heaven, said
to the disciples, all power, has been given unto me." That's
what we just read about in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. The Father has put
everything under the authority of the Son. All power and all
authority has been given unto me. Go ye therefore, because
I have authority and because I have power and because I will
never leave you nor forsake you, you go ye therefore and teach
all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the
Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all things
whatsoever I've commanded you. And lo, I'm with you always,
always, even into the end of the earth." The last words of comfort and
encouragement that the Lord gave to his church before going back
up into glory. Authorities, notice in our text,
all angels and all authorities. This is a reference to governing
authorities. Romans chapter 13 makes it clear
that the powers that be are ordained of God. They're all ordained
of God. That means the dictators are
ordained of God. And the benevolent rulers are
ordained of God. And though we get discouraged
when we see the abuse of power and the hypocrisy oftentimes
that's demonstrated in these ordained authorities, we must
not forget that they have been put there by God for a purpose.
and they're under the Lord's authority and he will use them
to his end and then he will take them down. He puts kings up and
he takes kings down. And as the heart of the king
is in the hand of the Lord, he directs it whithersoever he
wills. Just like water, just like the
water course, he directs the heart of the king. These authorities
are doing his bidding. They're under his authority. He's seated at the right hand
of God. He's been exalted. He's been successful in his redemptive
work and he's doing everything. We need to hear this because
all of this is for the sake of his church. It's all for the
sake of his church. You know, I mentioned that At
Lord Grace's wedding the other night that the reason for everything
is a marriage. It's a marriage. It's literally
a marriage that was made in heaven in eternity past when the father
chose for his son a bride. And the son redeemed that bride
on Calvary's cross. And now the Holy Spirit is calling
out those whom the father elected and those whom the son redeemed.
And he's calling them one by one into the church of God, into
a loving relationship with their husband, their bridegroom. And
when the last one of God's elect is called out of darkness, this
world will cease to be. It'll just be over just that
quick. The fire of God will fall, the
trumpet of God will sound, the dead in Christ will be raised,
those of us who are alive will be called up together with them.
You know, there's not stages in the catastrophic ending of
this world. It's not going to happen in stages.
Not gonna be a period of persecution and trouble, and then a Baptist
purgatory. That's what, they think Christ
is gonna rapture the church, and then there's gonna be a period
of persecution where you're gonna have a chance to be saved, but
you're gonna have to die for the cause in order to be saved. It's all gonna happen just like
that, one time. When? When the church, the bride of
Christ, is made complete and then we're all going to gather
together at the wedding feast of the bridegroom of the Lamb
in heaven. Here's what the Lord's telling
us. He has gone into heaven. He came down from heaven. He
went up to the cross, he went down in the grave, he went back
up into heaven, he's coming down again, and then he's going up,
and what comes down must go up. He's in the heavens at the right
hand of God. All angels, elect and fallen
angels, and all authorities are subject unto him. As discouraged as we get over
the circumstances of our world, don't you know that these early
believers were so comforted by this? I mean, they were being
burned at the stake. They were being thrown in prison.
They were being chased out of their homes. They were fleeing
for their lives, meeting in secret. And the government was sponsoring
all of that. And the Lord's telling them,
these governing authorities are subject to me. I put them in
place. I will use them. I will accomplish
my ends through them. Trust me. Trust me. In all what seems to us to be
chaos and social unrest and wars and rumors of wars and The Lord
tells us to pray for the kings, pray for those in authority,
that you might live peaceable lives in this earth. Pray that
the Lord would restrain them. But remember, whatever they do, they are his ministers doing
his bidding. And that's what the Lord has
made it clear here. They are under, they are subject to the
authority of Christ. Now in closing, powers, what does that mean? Well, for the child of God, the
power that they deal with every day is their own sin. There was a time when sin had
such a grip on us that we could not believe. We couldn't believe. We're blinded by sin. We're spiritually
dead by sin. It was impossible for us to believe.
And that unbelief and that sin was subject unto Him. All power
is subject unto Him. And there came a moment in time
when he broke the power of sin and gave us faith to believe
on Christ. You're not under the dominion
of it anymore. It doesn't reign. You say, was sin so real to me? It's so yes. And that power of
sin that you struggle with and that I struggle with, don't forget,
It's under his authority. It is subject unto him. And so
in our temptations, what do we do? Again, just as God uses these
fallen angels to drive us home, the Lord uses the old man to
drive the new man to Christ. What is it that reminds you of
your need for Christ more and that causes you to flee to Christ
more for hope and for salvation than the power of sin in your
life? And so that power is broken every time sin is used to drive
you in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ. Power of death. That's a powerful
thing. Death is a powerful thing. Though
the flesh fights it and we resist it at every turn and any hint
of it grips our hearts with fear, the Lord Jesus Christ has broken
the power of death. He's opened the grave. He's defeated
Satan, death has been conquered. And now rather than death being
the end, death is the beginning. Death is the beginning. The way
down is up. It's the gateway to life for
the believer. And it's subject to him. What about the will of man? The
will of man is subject to God. It's subject to Christ. An unbeliever cannot use his
will to thwart, inhibit, or change the purpose of God in any way. The Lord Jesus Christ has power
over it and it is subject unto him. Now man's will is freely his
will. And he bears all the responsibility
for all the choices that he makes. But here we find something of
the glory of our God. Man's not a mindless robot. He's not a puppet on strings. He's a free, uncoerced, agent
who exercises his will according to his will. And you think about the, I mean, I don't know what goes
on, I don't know what's after trillions, but I'm sure that
the trillions wouldn't even begin to number the possibility of
choices that are made every day in the world by man. You know, it just, It's an endless,
infinite possibility of cause and effect. And every choice
and every decision that man freely makes has a different effect.
And David, when he was writing Psalm 139, he said, when I consider
these things, they are too wonderful for me. How is it that man, with
his will, is freedom of choice, and yet
all of these things are subject to Christ. And the wrath of man
shall praise Him, and the remainder He shall restrain. And so all
of these possibilities that are put into effect by the choice
of man, and yet God is controlling it all. It's all subject to Him. You see, it's the infinite glory of our God,
his omnipotence, his omniscience, his immutability beyond what... So the powers are not just the
power of sin and the power of death, but it's the power of
man's will. Pilate thought that he was exercising
his own will. Don't you know when he put that
sign over the cross that said, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of
the Jews, and he put it there in Hebrew and Greek and Latin
so that the religious elite could read it and the common man could
read it and the governing authorities could read it. And they came
to Pilate and they said, oh, no, no, don't put that He's the
king of the Jews, put that, he says he's the king of the Jews.
And Pilate said, what I've written, I've written. Pilate thought
that that was his choice. And it was his choice. And Pilate
was aggravated with those Jews. Pilate was doing it out of spite
toward them. And perhaps even some, maybe
there was some mocking in Pilate's thoughts toward the Lord. but God used the free choice
of a man to declare before the whole world that Jesus of Nazareth
is the King of all the Jews. And of course, we can't think
about this without turning to Acts chapter two, Acts chapter
two. All things are subject to him. Look at Acts chapter two, verse 23. Him being delivered
by the determinant counsel and for knowledge of God, you have
taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. You made
this choice. You decided it of your own will. And yet in doing that, you fulfill
the very determinate counsel and purpose of God. Isn't this
what Joseph went when he said to his brothers, you meant it
for evil. You chose to sell me into slavery,
but God meant it for good. And he sent me ahead for you
in order to bring salvation. And here's the best news of all. Our will is subject unto Him. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad
that His people become willing in the day of His power? You
know, people say, well, you know, God wants us to freely love Him,
that's why He gave us a free will. God gave us a will. That will is in bondage to our
nature. And God knew that if he left us to ourselves, we would
never love him. We would never desire to come
to him. And that's where the new birth, that's why we have
to be born again. The Lord gives us a new will. He doesn't bring us kicking and
screaming. There may be a lot of kicking
and screaming before the new birth, The, you know, Paul, Saul of
Tarsus, the Lord, when he arrested him on the road to Damascus,
said, it's hard for you to kick against the pricks, isn't it,
Saul? You know, I've been convicting you ever since you, you know,
for some time now. Whatever was happening in Saul's
life. But now his will's been changed. Lord, Lord, what would
you have me to do? He made him willing. He gave
a new will. All angels, fallen and elect,
all authorities, however good or bad they might be, all sin,
all death, all men, the armies of heaven and all the inhabitants
of the earth, God has made him to be Lord over the living and
over the dead. They are all subject unto him. Why? Because what came down must
go up and he's seated right now in his rightful place. God has
made everything subject unto him. Tom. Number 272. 272. Let's stand together. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. When darkness veils His lovely
face, I rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy
gale, My anchor holds within the veil. On Christ the solid
rock I stand, All mother ground is sinking sand. His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the well-being flood. When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope that
stays. On Christ the solid rock I stand
On other ground is sinking sand On other ground is sinking sand He shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in Him be found, Dressed in His righteousness
alone, Called blest to stand before Him. On Christ the solid rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.